Hopkins, A., Vergara, K., La Rosa, M. A. y Glave, M. (2022). Cerrando, ¿qué brechas?: análisis de la inversión pública en la Amazonía peruana. En J. L. Dammert, C. Trivelli y A. Diez (Eds.), Perú: el problema agrario en debate. Sepia XIX. (pp. 167-222) Lima: SEPIA.

The study analyzes the relationship between public investment in infrastructure and the closing of gaps in the Peruvian Amazon during the first two decades of the 21st century. This analysis transcends the economic sphere by considering social and environmental dimensions as part of a territorial approach to sustainable development. It is based on the hypothesis that investment in infrastructure in the Peruvian Amazon has been aimed at market competitiveness rather than an integral vision of social welfare. Likewise, it has ignored the geographic and cultural particularities of the region, which has resulted in negative impacts on Amazonian socio-ecological systems. For the proposed analysis, the study uses information from the Investment Bank, population and housing censuses, monetary poverty maps and deforestation maps. The results show that public investment as a whole has a null effect on the reduction of monetary poverty. However, in the breakdown by expenditure category, the effect appears to be positive in the case of non-agricultural productive investment. As for investment in public services, a robust positive effect is identified, highlighting investment in transportation and sanitation. Finally, we find that public investment has a positive effect on deforestation, especially for the agricultural investment component. We conclude that public investment generated greater access to basic public services, without implying a significant reduction in monetary poverty, but it did lead to greater deforestation.